TOPIC: Try discussing here....

My buddy sent me some photos of the dealer hall. Shocking how empty it is.
Looks like an Origins Thursday

kurtreznor wrote:

balthasar wrote:

Matthew Hayward wrote:

balthasar wrote:

Matthew Hayward wrote: Interesting interview article about GenCon’s current safety policies:

icv2.com/articles/news/view/49282/icv2-interview-covid-safety-gen-con

Apparently GenCon estimates 90% of their attendees are vaccinated.

What a shame that in an effort to cater to the other 10% they ended up with a masks required con that is less safe.

It’s hard for me to imagine those choices will lead to increased attendance and enjoyment relative to requiring vaccines.

That estimate is based on a survey earlier this year where they asked attendees if they planned on being vaccinated for the convention. I would not trust that to be an accurate number. I am vaccinated and would not be attending if they did not require masks, even if vaccinations were required. The country is half vaccinated and we are seeing higher numbers now than at this time than last year because of the Delta variant. I don't think requiring vaccinations would make it any safer unless you required both masks and the shot. Keep in mind that Indiana is only at 47% fully vaxxed which means attendees would be exposed to to locals that really don't seem to care about the health of others.

Take it up with GenCon - not me - they are the ones saying:

“…our internal polling indicates that over 90% of our attendees are vaccinated.”

I’m not sure how you drew the conclusion as to the source and provenance of that data - since GenCon’s representative didn’t say what the source was.

I’m not sure if you are saying:

Fully vaccinated but without masks

Is less safe than:

No vaccine requirements but with masks.

But if you are I disagree.

However CDC recommendations for Clark county include wearing a mask in public regardless of vaccination status currently so I suppose I shouldn’t put the mask requirement at the feet of GenCon’s cowardly decision making here.

They told us the result of their survey months ago. It was the one in which they asked how people wanted Gen Con to handle health and safety issues. That survey had 90% of people saying they expected to be vaccinated by the time Gen Con went live. I don't trust the results because I believe a non-zero number of people would not meet that goal. Also, I am not saying just masks without vaccination would be safer, just that only requiring vaccinations and NOT requiring masks would not be safer than what we have now. In a perfect world, I would like to see vaccinations required, masks required, and voluntary testing on Sunday to possibly catch any breakthrough cases. Gen Con could report the results later in an attempt to let people know if they should consider limiting contact after the con.

So, it was a survey that people who don't care about covid wouldn't bother answering, AND those of us most concerned absolutely DID respond and are not going to gencon because vaccines are not required.
If they were pushing that 90% number to try and convince more people that gencon is safe, that is evil and makes me even happier that I'm not going.

Gotta say I agree with this. I like gencon LLC managment as a corperate entity less and less every year. Honestly TD is the only reason I put up with them anymore. Bright side maybe this year causes them some self reflection.

balthasar wrote:

Matthew Hayward wrote:

balthasar wrote:

Matthew Hayward wrote: Interesting interview article about GenCon’s current safety policies:

icv2.com/articles/news/view/49282/icv2-interview-covid-safety-gen-con

Apparently GenCon estimates 90% of their attendees are vaccinated.

What a shame that in an effort to cater to the other 10% they ended up with a masks required con that is less safe.

It’s hard for me to imagine those choices will lead to increased attendance and enjoyment relative to requiring vaccines.

That estimate is based on a survey earlier this year where they asked attendees if they planned on being vaccinated for the convention. I would not trust that to be an accurate number. I am vaccinated and would not be attending if they did not require masks, even if vaccinations were required. The country is half vaccinated and we are seeing higher numbers now than at this time than last year because of the Delta variant. I don't think requiring vaccinations would make it any safer unless you required both masks and the shot. Keep in mind that Indiana is only at 47% fully vaxxed which means attendees would be exposed to to locals that really don't seem to care about the health of others.

Take it up with GenCon - not me - they are the ones saying:

“…our internal polling indicates that over 90% of our attendees are vaccinated.”

I’m not sure how you drew the conclusion as to the source and provenance of that data - since GenCon’s representative didn’t say what the source was.

I’m not sure if you are saying:

Fully vaccinated but without masks

Is less safe than:

No vaccine requirements but with masks.

But if you are I disagree.

However CDC recommendations for Clark county include wearing a mask in public regardless of vaccination status currently so I suppose I shouldn’t put the mask requirement at the feet of GenCon’s cowardly decision making here.

They told us the result of their survey months ago. It was the one in which they asked how people wanted Gen Con to handle health and safety issues. That survey had 90% of people saying they expected to be vaccinated by the time Gen Con went live. I don't trust the results because I believe a non-zero number of people would not meet that goal. Also, I am not saying just masks without vaccination would be safer, just that only requiring vaccinations and NOT requiring masks would not be safer than what we have now. In a perfect world, I would like to see vaccinations required, masks required, and voluntary testing on Sunday to possibly catch any breakthrough cases. Gen Con could report the results later in an attempt to let people know if they should consider limiting contact after the con.

I’m confused by what you say in the part about:

“ Also, I am not saying just masks without vaccination would be safer, just that only requiring vaccinations and NOT requiring masks would not be safer than what wE have now.”

I thought that the current situation at GenCon is vaccines are not required, negative covid tests are not required, and masks are required.

I am not an expert on this stuff, but I would have thought that:

No vaccine requirement + no testing requirement + masks required

Is less safe than:

Vaccines required + no mask requirement

Maybe I’m wrong about that.

My thought is that being vaccinated does not prevent transmission as much as masks allegedly do. I believe requiring the mask is more important. I am happy that a TON of people seemed more than happy to mask up, they did not really enforce the standards they set very well, as people used bandanas, gaiters that you could see through, masks, with the sides wide open, and things that looked some odd combination of a gaiter and a bandana that, while being tight under the nose, just hung down off the face, One person had an inflatable costume with no mask under it, so the fan was just venting everything he breathed out all over the place. The enforcement was all over the place. I was sitting at a desk while volunteering and I lowered my mask to take two bites of a sandwich. I was told by Gen Con staff I was not allowed to do that, but there were people walking around with food or drink for much longer periods and no mask.

I feel like they did their best to cover their collective asses so that they could hold a convention. I do appreciate that some volunteers were doing their best to enforce a standard, but the fact that so many people were allowed to do pretty much whatever they wanted, it was kind of pointless.

On the testing, I don't think doing that as a way to keep people coming in is that safe, as you can get a false negative/positive or you can encounter the virus pretty much right after getting tested. I'd like to have seen voluntary testing on the way out to see how many attendees either came with or left with a Covid infection. It wouldn't catch everything, but it would let Gen Con know if they held a 'safe' event and allow attendees to decide if they should considering self-isolation after the event if the numbers were high.

Well, I got my post-GC Weekly Covid test results back - negative again.

Would it be realistic to see overall Gen Con spread results in a week? Or should it be a different time period? Thoughts?

Adam Guay wrote: Would it be realistic to see overall Gen Con spread results in a week? Or should it be a different time period? Thoughts?

Average incubation of delta variant is only 4 days. So a week should be long enough.

Interesting. Especially since a friend is returning from GenCon and next weekend we are embarking on our annual "Fishing Weekend" to Lake Erie. I scheduled it to make a sufficient gap betwixt GenCon and our weekend.
Now we are all vaccinated, never fish, and instead boardgame, watch scifi movies and perhaps have an adult beverage or two. Maybe seven of us finally together again.
We haven't done this since May 2019, and I cannot wait!
We plan on gaming as much as federal warning labels allow!

Three tests since GC, all negative. I think I made it.

bpsymington wrote: Three tests since GC, all negative. I think I made it.

Glad to hear it!

This source (the FDA) seems credible. If you don't have 8 hrs to spend on one video, I'd suggest looking at the 4:20 mark.

The point about myocarditis is followed by the speaker saying they can't prove that there is a higher risk without an actual study, so I am not sure why that is your focus in this video. We get it, you don't think the vaccine helps, and nothing is going to change your mind. What we do know is that vast majority of people being hospitalized, and dying, are unvaccinated people.